AstraZeneca on a roll as buyback doubles

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Shares of AstraZeneca rose by more than 4 per cent this morning after the UK’s second-biggest drugmaker doubled the size of a planned share buy back and raised its full year profits forecast for the third time this year.

AZ said it would increase its planned share buyback to $2 billion following a US court ruling last month that upheld its patent on Crestor, its anti-cholesterol drug, which last year enjoyed sales of $4.5 billion.

The news comes just hours after AZ received another significant boost when an advisory panel to America’s Food & Drink Administration approved Brillinta, an anti-clotting